Zinc oxide nanoflakes supported copper oxide nanosheets as a bifunctional electrocatalyst for OER and HER in an alkaline medium

Bifunctional electrocatalysts are the attractive research in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in the overall water-splitting reactions. The design and development of the cost-effective OER/HER bifunctional electrocatalysts with superior catalytic activity are still remaining as the big challenges. Herein, we have developed the CuO–ZnO nanocomposite as a bifunctional OER/HER electrocatalyst via simple chemical precipitation method. The nanocomposite was investigated for its crystalline structure, surface morphology and the functions of elements using XRD, FT-IR, SEM, TEM and XPS characterization techniques, respectively. The nanocomposite exhibited the excellent activity for the overall water-splitting in an alkaline medium. The CuO–ZnO nanocomposite showed the less onset potential of 1.4 and 0.15 V versus RHE in 1M KOH (Tafel slopes value of 0.180 and 0.400 V dec−1) for OER and HER, respectively. Hence, the as-prepared bifunctional electrocatalyst displayed the high stability for 10 h in the water electrolysis processes. •Efficient ZnO nanoflakes supported CuO nanosheets synthesized using hydrothermal method.•The catalyst properties were studied using various advanced characterization techniques.•OER/HER bifunctional activity was found for the developed nanocatalyst.•It was found that less onset potential of 1.4 and 0.15 V.•The constructed bifunctional electrocatalyst demonstrated high stability.